Be yourself, no matter what
by Anomynous Nin
Summary: Emil is feeling bad about what happened in the past and about Lloyd. Colette is here to make him feel better if he is going to believe himself. EmilxColette. Spoilers in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.


Hey, Tales of Symphonia fans! It's me, Anomynous Nin! And I'm here to show you guys a new one-shot fanfic of the series! But this fic takes place in the sequel of Tales of Symphonia, Dawn of the New World! In this fanfic, I'm gonna show you guys a new pairing... No, it's not Emil and Marta. It's... Um... Well...

Emil and Colette...

Yeah... I know, weird pairing. But this pairing seems cute and good to me. And also, They're a little similar, as they always apologize to everyone (Colette, obviously. But Emil... Um... I'm not sure about him apologizing a lot.). Well, it inspire me to write this. The first EmilxColette in the whole archive! Ok, let's get this over with!

Oh yeah. And they're will be some spoilers in the game, so be careful.

"Talking"

_'Thought'_

_Flashback_

A person's point of view

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or its sequel.

**Be yourself, no matter what**

Emil's point of view

What have I done? Why didn't I realized the truth earlier...?

In the Purge of Blood that happened in Palmacosta a long time ago, my parents were killed by none other than Lloyd Irving. Lloyd Irving was supposed to be the people's pride and faith. He was supposed to be the one who protects the world. He was the one who is worshiped as the hero of Symphonia.

But when I saw him killing my parents, I grew to know that Lloyd is not a hero, but a destroyer of the world.

He is not like the ancient hero, Mithos, who ended the Karlan War many years ago. He is not like any other hero who sacrificed their lives to protect the world. He was a villain to me, a killer.

But then... After my long revenge on Lloyd, I came to see the truth.

Lloyd isn't the one who led the Purge of Blood, but rather Decus, who disguised himself as Lloyd.

I was a fool... How could I think so foolish...? Lloyd wouldn't do anything bad to the world... He swore to protect it and sacrifice his life for it... I was a fool... I blamed Lloyd for what he has not done...

Colette's point of view

It's been two years since we defeated Mithos and restore the great Karlan Tree. Lloyd and I were searching for the remaining Expheres and destroyed all of it. I was so happy that I spent my time with Lloyd. But... My time with him ended when Lloyd decided that he'll go around the restored world of Symphonia alone, after we destroy all of the Expheres. And after that, I haven't seen Lloyd for a long time...

I was chosen to perform the final Ritual for the people of the world, as the Final Chosen of Mana. But suddenly, the member of the Vanguard learned of this and tries to stop me from completing the ritual. I hid myself from them so that I can be safe and assure that the path to perform the Ritual is safe. But it wasn't, and I had to go away from those people from the Vanguard.

That's when I met Emil Castagnier and Marta Lualdi. They are nice people who wants to restore peace in the world. I helped them getting all of the Ratatosk Core to Marta. It was my first journey for a long time.

But during my time on getting the Core, I found out a shocking truth.

Lloyd is trying to prevent Marta from getting the Core. And also, he was the one who led the Purge of Blood on Palmacosta.

I was so sad and shocked by that truth... And I tried to not believe this, but I just can't. It really hurts...

But then, a while later, I learned that it wasn't Lloyd who led the Purge of Blood, but rather the person named Decus. I was relieved that Lloyd didn't do something so horrible...

But when Emil learned the truth, he was feeling all the way down. And that does not only affect him, but to me as well... I want to help him... I want to comfort him... But how...?

Third person's point of view

After the truth about Lloyd and the succession of rescuing Zelos's sister, Seles, Emil finds himself sitting on a bench near the hotel of Altamira, thinking about the past and his supposed revenge on Lloyd. The truth hurts him too much. He blamed himself for blaming Lloyd about everything he hadn't done.

"Damn it... Why...? Why didn't I realized earlier...? It's my fault... I blamed Lloyd because of the Purge of Blood and the death of my parents... But he didn't do anything... He was trying to protect it... What have I done...?"

He looks at his shaking hands.

"How could I...? How could I have been a fool...? I was granted of having Ratatosk's power... for nothing at all..."

He slams his head on his hands, hiding it from his shame.

"Emil?"

He lifted his head up, hearing a voice quite familiar to him. He turns it and sees Colette, with a worrying face.

"Emil... Are you alright?" Colette said.

"Huh? Colette?"

He quickly stood up from the bench and tries to hide his true feelings.

"Um... Y... yeah! I'm fine! Just a little tired of the last battles we had! Hah hah hah!"

He nervously laughs at something so serious. Colette suspects his misbehaviour.

"Emil… What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong! I… I'm just a little… exciting, that's all! There's nothing to…"

His true feelings show a little, as his pretended smile turns into a frown.

"… No… Nothing is fine… I was a fool…"

He sat back down on the ground.

"How could I let myself get into this mess? Why did I believe such lies…?"

Colette understands what Emil was talking about. He was talking about what happened during their journey. And about the truth about the Purge of Blood and Lloyd.

"Emil… Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Huh? Oh… Yeah, sure…"

With a smile, Colette sat next to Emil on the bench.

It is silent between those two. And none of them say a word after fifteen minutes. They were still thinking about the past. The past was so painful to remember.

"… Colette?" said Emil finally.

"Yes, Emil?"

"Can I… tell you something?"

"Of course. You can tell me anything else, if you want to."

"Okay…"

With a deep breath, he then tells Colette about how he feels.

"Colette… What did you think of Lloyd?"

"Lloyd? Well… I think he's a good friend. And he always takes care of everyone he cares about. Lloyd is always the kind of guy I admired and trust. He never backs down on a friend and always tries to give his best to protect him. Lloyd is an amazing man. I really like him because of that."

"I see…" Emil looks back on the ground.

"What about you, Emil? What do you think of Lloyd?" she asked.

"Me? I… I don't know… It's rather mean for me to say anything about Lloyd…"

"Come on, Emil! I'm sure that Lloyd won't mind!"

He sighs, as he gives up about not telling Colette what he thinks about Lloyd.

"Alright… What I think about Lloyd is… or was… that he's a bad man…"

"Huh? Why? About the Purge of Blood that happened in Palmacosta?"

"… Yeah… When I saw Lloyd… Or at least, Decus, who disguised as Lloyd to frame him, killed my parents, I was drowned into misery… I vowed to defeat and kill Lloyd of what he has done to Palmacosta… I tried to convince you guys that Lloyd is evil and tries to destroy the world of Symphonia… But none of you believed me… Until one day, when Genis asked Lloyd about what happened in Palmacosta, he was also drowned in misery when he learned that Lloyd is really the one who led the Purge of Blood… But when I found out that it wasn't him who did all of this… I… I was ashamed… I foolishly believed that Lloyd, a person with good heart and swordsmanship, had done such a thing to Palmacosta… I was a fool… I can't believe that my revenge was all just a lie…"

Colette can feel the pain that Emil is in. She can feel that he was ashamed of blaming Lloyd for everything that he hasn't done. She reaches his shoulder with her hand.

"Emil… It's not your fault… It's not everyone's fault…" she said.

"What are you talking about? I was granted by Tenebrae to have Ratatosk's powers… And I used it against Lloyd… And for some reason… I also used it for evil…"

"That's not true!"

Emil looked up to Colette.

"Huh? What are you…?"

"The Lloyd that you were chasing after all this time is Decus! He was the one who did all of this misunderstanding. He was the one who framed Lloyd of what he hasn't done. He was the one you should have blamed."

"But… he was Lloyd… And my hatred was toward Lloyd… Even if Decus disguised himself as Lloyd, my hatred of him doesn't go away… I still…"

Even Colette's comfort, Emil is still feeling bad about what he has done to Lloyd after all of the journey he had done... But then, he feels a hand cupping his face. He looks up to see that Colette is cupping his face.

"Co… Colette?"

"Emil… It's alright…"

Colette pulls Emil into a hug, as she wraps her arms around him.

"It's alright… Lloyd doesn't blame you for that… You were misunderstood of that terrible lie… There's no need to blame yourself for this…"

"But… But I tried to kill…"

"It doesn't matter… What really matters is that Lloyd doesn't blame you…"

"How…?"

"I already told you, you were misunderstood of this… Decus is the one who is supposed to be blamed for this, not you or Lloyd… If you want to be forgiven by Lloyd himself, then all you have to do is to be yourself…"

"Myself…?"

"Yes… Be yourself, no matter what, Emil."

After hearing those words, Emil smiles.

"Colette… Thank you…"

Colette smiles also.

After a few seconds of hugging and comforting, Emil slightly pulls back from the hug, as he blushes slightly.

"Um… Colette?" he nervously asked.

"Yes, Emil?"

"Um… Do… Do you like Lloyd?"

"Um… well… I was…"

"Was?"

"Yeah… But that's when… I found out that Lloyd loves Sheena."

"Oh… Sorry that I asked that…"

"No, it's fine. I knew that Sheena is the perfect woman for Lloyd. I'm happy for him. He deserves to be happy with her…"

"Yeah…"

"And I'm sure you'll be the same as Lloyd with Marta, Emil."

He blushes.

"M… Me? With Marta? Why did you say that, Colette?"

"Well, it's obvious that you two are really connected and really seem to like each other. You two always hold hands when you were alone, Emil."

"Um… Yeah… About that…"

He took a deep breath.

"Colette… The truth is… I don't like Marta as more than a friend. I like her as a friend, nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing for? It was just a guess. You shouldn't apologize of that random guess."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"… Colette, stop aplologizing. It's really annoying."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

Emil sweatdrops.

'_Man, she's a little too serious about apologizing.' _He thought.

"But… there is one person who I like…"

"Really? Who is it?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Well… She happens to be… One of the party members…"

"So who is she?"

"Um…"

"Is it Sheena?"

"What?! No! She likes Lloyd!"

"Professor Sage?"

"Raine? Um… She's a little too old for me, thank you…"

"Oh! Oh! Is it Presea?"

"… Um… No, she's not my type of girl."

"Then who is she?"

Emil sweatdrops again.

'_Man, is she really that clueless?'_

"Um… Can I give you a guess?" asked Emil.

"Sure!" she happily accepts.

"Um… Close your eyes, Colette."

"Ok." She does what Emil said. She closed her eyes. When she closed them, she feels a soft, warm skin on her lips. She feels really curious about that. She tries to speak, but the skin prevents her from opening her mouth. Deciding that the guess is too hard to guess, she opens her eyes. Upon opening them, she sees something that she didn't expected.

Emil was actually kissing her.

The soft, warm skin is his lips, contacting with her own lips. Then, when the kiss is still laying on her, she slowly close her eyes. But when she closed them, Emil pulls back, with his face as hot as a tomato.

"Emil… What was…?" Colette slightly asked.

"Colette… The person that I like… is…"

"Who… is it…?"

"Colette… It's you… I like… No… I LOVE you, Colette Brunel… I always have…"

"… Emil…"

He looks away from her.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to be like this… Let… Let me get away from you for a while…"

Emil was about to stand up from the bench, when Colette holds his shoulders and pulls him back into a kiss. He is rather surprised about this, but slowly kisses back. The kiss lasted at least three minutes before the two travelers pull back from each other, blushing.

"Um… Heh… heh heh…" Emil nervously chuckled.

"Hi hi…" Colette nervously giggled.

"Um… Do you want to go to the amusement park with me, Colette?"

"Sure, Emil…"

They stood up from the bench and go to the amusement park. Their hands were perfectly entwined to each other.

They have found their destiny…

**End**

Alright! I'm done with this fic! Heh heh! And sorry if that pairing is a little… weird. I just like it. Anyway, I will make another fic for the archive soon. So be patient… If possible.

And if you guys want to learn more about the game, then go to Youtube and watch some videos of it. Be careful for the spoilers.

Anyway, see you guys later! And review, please!


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